The chatter

The week in social media.

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Shougat Dasgupta

March 16, 2018

ISSUE DATE: March 26, 2018

UPDATED: March 19, 2018 12:20 IST

Justice Shrugged

Howls of outrage erupted on social media as a lower court in Mangalore acquitted 26 people accused in 2009 of assaulting girls for the crime of going to a pub. The attack was caught on video and provoked national anger and disgust. Hindu 'fringe' group Sri Rama Sene claimed they beat up the women because their "indecent" behaviour was a desecration of Indian culture. It seemed an open and shut case. The men swinging wildly at the fleeing, screaming women were caught on camera. But the court claimed lack of evidence. The victims of the assault refused to testify, their reticence in having their lives and values dissected in public understandable. Their fear too, judging by Sene leader Pramod Muthalik's pride in his group's thuggishness. Now the law too appears to have given them carte blanche. Sri Rama Sene will contest 52 seats in the Karnataka elections. Let's hope they'll lose their deposits.

Politics of Convenience

Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal switched allegiance to the BJP, miffed that he wasn't being considered for the SP's only seat in the Rajya Sabha. Social media users had fun finding old tweets from prominent BJP figures expressing their disgust at Agrawal. Some, including Amit Malviya, the BJP's social media panjandrum, even accused him of being a shill for Pakistan. BJP spokesman Sambit Patra even tried to delete his tweets criticising Agrawal, only to have them triumphantly dug up. Of course, politicians have no friends or enemies, just relationships that are mutually beneficial. Until they're not.

The Perils of Going Viral

British Olympic swimmer Lizzie Simmonds tweeted about a woman at her local pool who told her she was "very good at swimming" and "should do a trial with the county club". Simmonds said she'd been to the Olympics. "Me too," responded the woman, "what sports did you manage to get tickets for?" It was an amusing exchange. The trolls thought Simmonds was saying she should be instantly recognisable. Soon she became an international hate figure. Albeit, as is the way of social media, only briefly.

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